Halloween
by Vanessa Gordon
Summary: Because Tony KNOWS that weird stuff always happens on Halloween.


"I hate Halloween," Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo complained as he got out of driver's side of the NCIS truck. On the opposite side, his partner Agent Ziva Da'vid rolled her eyes. "Weird things happen on Halloween!"

"Weird describes our jobs," Ziva informed him.

"But Halloween is always weirder than usual!" Tony stated firmly, slamming his door and starting for the back of the truck. "Weird and creepy."

"Tony, it's a bunch of kids," Timothy McGee, the youngest agent on the team, added from behind the truck where he was pulling his gear from the back of the truck. "They probably just wandered off, being the child of a marine doesn't prevent you from getting lost."

"Oh no McGoo," Tony countered. "I'll bet you that something creepy supernatural is going to happen before the night's over." Tony's head buckled forward with the force of the slap which announced the presence of the team's silver haired leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Focus Dinozzo."

"Sorry Boss, I will go question the witnesses now," Tony offered before pulling his notepad out of the truck and walking off towards the group of kids outside the warehouse.

"How sure are we the kids are missing?" Ziva asked. "In a party like this…"

"Their ride home reported them missing, no one saw them leave," Gibbs reported. "No one else left the party." Gibbs took a swig from his coffee cup. "McGee, the victims were last seen in the bathroom. You're on photos." The younger agent nodded and took off with his camera.

"Ziva, we're finding the parents," Gibbs announced, already starting for his sedan.

)_(

Tony sighed as the group of college girls walked away from him. It was the same story every time (and this was nearly 100). It was horrible these girls were missing, everyone loved them, no one saw anything weird, and wished they could be of more help. Though, as the most recent group of girls walked away, he decided it could be worse (he could still be interviewing the group of boys who insisted in talking like the monsters they were dressed as- Frankinstein was lucky not to get decked). Not to mention he was finally done- then he noticed one final figure lingering in the shadows just outside the perimeter.

"Hey, you!" Tony yelled. The figure gave no sudden movement to indicate their hearing him. Tony sighed. This (he just **knew**) was going to be what made his night weird. "I want to ask you some questions!"

"Me?" Tony relaxed slightly as the figure stepped into the light. It was just another partygoer. This one did seem lightly younger than the others, but that was hardly his supernatural weirdness. He might have to acknowledge he was overly prejudiced against the holiday. "How can I help you officer?"

"Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, NCIS," Tony announced, showing her his badge. "Can I ask you some questions about what you saw tonight?"

"I didn't really see anything," the sheprovided. "I only got here ten minutes before they vanished. " Tony nodded, but pulled out his card and handed it to the small girl anyway.

"If you think of anything else, give me a call, will you?" he asked. "I'd also appreciate any help I can get, Batgirl." The girl smiled from behind her mask as she accepted the card, then headed for the parking lot, the black cape of her Batgirl costume billowing behind her. Tony smiled to himself at his joke as he headed back towards the rest of the team.

)_(

"What happened?" demanded the annoyed Gibbs. The team had, after hours of searching, figured out where the creep was hiding. Suffice to say the raid hadn't gone well.

"I checked on the girls, and he was just gone," Tony explained. "It wasn't more than thirty seconds of hesitation! He must have vanished into thin air." He had concluded that he would much rather be wrong about the supernatural creepiness than deal with an angry Gibbs.

"It was not Tony's fault," Ziva interceded. "I was at the back door and he did not go by me."

"Boss, there was a passage way out of the building," McGee reported as he entered the bullpen. "Palmer found it, nearly fell down it actually, as he helped Ducky give the girls first aid. They're all fine, back with their families."

"McGee, see if you can find him, since Tony and Ziva seem unable," Gibbs demanded.

"Boss, he was clearly planning this, it's not very likely…"

"Now McGee."

"On it boss." Gibbs stormed out of the bull pen, presumably for a coffee refill. A few seconds later, one of the security officers charged into the bullpen, looking frantic.

"You won't believe this," he announced. "Your suspect just turned up outside the navy yard." Ziva, Tony, and McGee exchanged a momentary look before piling into the elevator with the security officer.

)_(

"Tony, you were right about Halloween," Ziva conceded as the three agents stared at the ground in front of them. McGee nodded. Upon their arrival at the Navy Yard's entrance, they had been directed to the unconscious form of their kidnapper, Martin Sopurn, bound at the wrists and ankles. The security officer had been all too happy to explain how he and his colleague had merely taken their eyes off the road for half a minute to wrap up the sign in sheet for their shift, and when they'd looked up, he'd been lying there.

"This takes the cake for weird in my book," Tony offered as they continued to stare at the unconscious man.

"I don't care how weird it is Dinozzo," Gibbs declared as he came up behind the three. "I want the crime scene processed and the suspect in interrogation before we go home tonight."

"Boss, it's already morning," McGee pointed out, showing his watch's illuminated "1:25am" to Gibbs. Gibbs ignored the younger agent's comment and continued on to double check the security officers' stories.

)_(

Tony got gingerly out of his car, yawning widely before closing the door. It had taken hours for the team to reach the conclusion that there was absolutely no explanation for the sudden appearance of their suspect. All he wanted now was to go to sleep before the sun rose on November 1st.

After a few seconds of fumbling with his keys and another yawn, he opened the door and made his way into his living room, dropping his gear in the hallway on his way. He then flopped onto the couch, falling unconscious shortly after his head hit the pillow.

)_(

Tony became aware of warmth on the side of his face, and slowly blinked his eyes open. He sat up, his back creaking slightly. He glanced around his living room, briefly curious as to why he fell asleep on the couch. However, the wacky events of last night flowed back into his mind quickly. He glanced at the clock.

"Crap." He remembered something about being back at work in the morning. He got up from the couch and started into the hallway so he could change his clothes. However, his foot caught on the strap of his gear bag and he stumbled, then his foot other foot slipped out from under him, and he fell to the ground.

"What the hell?" he mumbled as he sat up and searched for the object which had caused him to slip. He quickly picked out a plain white piece of paper which he had no memory of putting on his floor. He picked it up, discovering several lines of typed scrawl.

_Wanted to talk to you myself, but you were already asleep. Sorry if I caused you any hassle, but you __**did**__ ask for my help. I also wanted to show you Halloween weirdness isn't always that bad. Happy Halloween!_

_ -Batgirl_

Tony stared at the paper. He reread it. He stared at the signature for another several minutes. The image of the girl from the party flashed back though his mind. Then, he shook his head. After all, there were kids all over his neighborhood last night. Surely one of them was trying to pull a prank. He laughed. They'd had him going for a minute.

Suddenly, he stopped laughing. The note showed knowledge of both his conversations at the crime scene, and the wacky night he'd had. But it couldn't…

There was only one explanation for this. Tony pulled his phone out of his gear bag and punched in a number. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY MCGEE!"


End file.
